The 10th International Turkish Language Olympiad received attention from academics this year as Turcologists from 22 countries watched the big event, held across Turkey by the International Turkish Education Association (TÜRKÇEDER).
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Participants in the Turkish Olympiad gathered in Kızılcahamam, Ankara. Turcologists visiting from 22 countries attended the Turkish Olympiad this year. (Photo: Cihan) |
Turkish Olympiad Secretary-General Tuncay Öztürk told reporters on Friday that this year’s event, the 10th edition of the competition, features an international jury for the first time and that they are working to bring an academic touch to the Olympiad. “We are evaluating the Olympiad from an academic perspective. We are looking at the issue from an academic and international perspective,” he said.
“We are getting ideas in order to enhance means of cooperation [internationally]. We will increase [the participation of academics in the event]. Just as students from 135 countries [make this event international], Turcologists from 135 countries will take the event to an international academic platform.”
Former Turkish Language Association (TDK) President Şükrü Haluk Akalın told Today’s Zaman that in his meetings with international academics, they have discussed their own experiences and talked about how the education of Turkish can be improved.
The head of the department of Turkish language and literature at the University of Pristina in Kosovo, Irfan Murina, said he was enchanted by the Olympiad and presented a proposal to the organizers of the event: to present awards to Turcologists who contribute to the language. According to Murina, Turkish will be among the most widely spoken languages in the world with the help of the Olympiad.
Academics praise Olympiad
Professor Elizabet Bjkalova from Georgia’s Tbilisi State University in an interview with Today’s Zaman thanked the organizers of the Olympiad and said knowledge of the Turkish language means having a full grasp of Turkey. According to Bjkalova, students from Europe may not be familiar with Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky or Muslim philosopher Rumi, but the students of the Turkish Olympiad can speak their words. She also said the students she talked to aim to study in Turkey instead of popular education destinations such as the US.
Assistant Professor Asiya Rahimova from Republic of Tatarstan said she and her students have attended the Olympiad since 2003 while her university students have taken part in the event since 2007. “This beautiful festival has been going on for 10 years. Turkish has already started to become a world language. We have been saying and witnessing this for a couple of years,” she said.
Meanwhile the Turkish Language Special Awards will be presented to the head of Turkey’s Language and Literature Association, Ekrem Erdem, and Chairman of the Turkish Associations Foundation for Education and Culture Nevzat Köseoğlu for their contribution to the Turkish language on Saturday in a ceremony at Ankara Sports Hall. Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek and Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç are expected to appear at the ceremony.
In Osmaniye and Isparta, the students participating in the Turkish Olympiad gave performances on Friday. The events in both provinces attracted a great deal of interest from the locals.
Published on Today's Zaman, 08 June 2012, Friday
